Friday, November 8, 2013

88 Suburbs In Search Of Their Names

Los Angeles County is quite a county. With a population of about 10 million, it's not only the most populous county in the United States, but it has more people than the entire nation of Sweden. It's home of America's aerospace and entertainment industries. It's home to the two largest ports in the U.S.. Los Angeles County has got it all: Mountains, beaches, deserts, even two islands and 88 incorporated cities.

Eighty-eight cities with eighty-eight distinct names (Okay, some of the names aresimilar). And what's in a name? A glimpse of the town's history, that's what. Many of the cities are named after the original Mexican-era ranchos, or even invented (i.e. gringo) Spanish. One is even in French. Some are named after the native Tongva or Chumash. Another is named after a Native American language from the Midwest. Some are named after saints. Others are named after the town's founders, or their native hometowns. And a few are named after lofty, idyllic visions of what their founders wanted their city to eventually be.

So after much Militant research, here it is, the etymology of Los Angeles county's 88 cities, in alphabetical order:

Covina – Named by engineer Fred Eaton (who eventually became Los Angeles Mayor and conceptualized the Los Angeles Aqueduct) after the San Gabriel Mountain valleys, which formed a natural “COVE” around the local “VINE”yards.

Pasadena – Chippewa Native American for “Crown Of The Valley,” suggested by settler Dr. Thomas Elliot, who was recommended the name from a missionary friend from the Midwest who worked with Native American tribes.

Pico Rivera – Named after Mexican California governor Pio Pico, and the local confluence of the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel rivers.

San Marino – Named by founder James DeBarth Shorb after his grandfather’s plantation in Maryland, which was named after the small European republic of San Marino, which was named after Saint Marinus, a 4th-century monk.

Santa Clarita – Invented Spanish for “Little Santa Clara.” Named after the nearby Santa Clara River, but intentionally differentiated from the northern California city of Santa Clara.

Santa Fe Springs – Named after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway which ran through town, and the local artesian springs.

Santa Monica – Named by Father Juan Crespi, who, upon arriving at Kuruvugna Springs (at modern-day University High School’s campus), thought the waters reminded him of the tears of Saint Monica.

Sierra Madre – Spanish for “mother mountain range,” the original name of the San Gabriel Mountains.

23 comments:

great post. Urban legend here says that the city was originally known simply as monroe, with the railroad it was always "Monroe via Pasadena" and it became commonly known as Monrovia and that was the name given when we incorporated.Too good to not share with all of LA.fraz

I have been trying to locate the DUTCH VILLAGE neighborhood. My mother always referred to ushaving lived there in the late 50's. I believe thatwe were in the San Pedro area and the area washilly with large tree roots and cracked sidewalksor possibly in the Palos Verde area?

Good summary. How did you find all these names? I imagine most are spot on, but I did have some clarifications. South gate was named as such because it was the southern gate of the Lugo Ranch (not the Cudahy ranch). The Lugo ranch encompassed Bell, Vernon, HP, SG, MyWd, CDY, ELos.

Also, with respect to HP. It was originally known as La Park. But to entice Henry Huntington and his growing rail empire, civic leaders changed the name to convince him to send rail down their way (it worked). Either way, good job.

"Can't seem to sign up to post a reply to the city names. Tell the guy looking for Dutch Village it was off Lakewood Boulevard and Carson Street, a diagonal there. There was a Dutch Boy paint shop in there and it was called Dutch Village. Near Long Beach City College."

Anonymous: ACTUALLY, "Angelino" came about when there was a considerable Italian American influence in Los Angeles' hence the "Angelino Heights" district which is adjacent to what once was Los Angeles' Little Italy.

"Angeleno" is actually the Spanish variant, and "Angeleño" is the more accurate Spanish version.

Great post Mr. Militant Angeleno. However, the explanation for the city of Pico Rivera is incorrect. The city was actually the merger of two cities, which originally were formed by the boundaries of two family ranches. One was the Pio Pico ranch (his home is on Whittier Blvd. right off the 605 frwy) and the Rivera ranch. The two cities existed independently, until January 7, 1958 when the cities voted to incorporate together.

L.A. County City of La Habra Heights, is of course named after Orange County City of La Habra. La Habra means "The Pass" meaning the pass through the hills. Literally meaning Hacienda Road, the only pass through the Puente Hills from the San Gabriel Valley to Orange county.

Anonymous: Those places in the Valley you listed are communities of Los Angeles -- they are not independent cities (at least not anymore). The Militant only listed the 88 incorporated cities of Los Angeles County. He may or may not take on the Los Angeles community names in a future post.

Mary Breier McCawley is mistaken; Dutch Village was a shopping center at Woodruff Avenue and South Street in Lakewood. It's Disneyesque architecture featured a windmill towering over Woodruff Ave. There was a TV repair shop and a Van DeKamps bakery there as I recall. Dutch Village was torn down in stages between 1988 and 1993 to make way for a Pavilions and non-Dutch looking strip malls.

Palos Verdes makes more sense as "green sticks" if one recalls that it was basically an island surrounded by marsh. The green sticks were the reeds that grew locally. The Palo Verde tree is not native to the area.

Todays Atwater Village is named after an early pioneer of the area. Harriet Atwater Paramore husband bought a large tract of land from W.C.B Richardson back in 1912. The village was added back in the early 90's. Inspiration was taken from a sign that stood for years on Glendale Blvd saying " Atwater a village with-in a city."

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